According to the report, India’s poor performance can be pinned on low wages, and less participation of women in the economy. It also emphasises the fact that there are far fewer women in middle-level managerial, technical, political or professional positions in India.

Team this with a survey published last month that looked at all tech companies in the country and found just 26% of women in engineering roles, and it seems India does indeed have a worrying gender divide in this industry.

STEM education

Shradha Sharma, founder and CEO of YourStory, one of India’s leading online media ventures for Entrepreneurs and Startups, said that “where I come from, it’s almost a crime to be born a female. It’s routine for society to treat women as an inferior species.” However, this did not stop her from studying and working hard to get to where she is now.

In addition to this, the negative “computer geek” stigma surrounding tech opportunities felt in the Western world, is much less prevalent in India. Women in India are opting for career driven paths including medicine, engineering, and technology.

Patriarchal attitudes

“Sweetie, you don’t have to become a doctor. You can just marry a doctor”

This seemingly old fashioned view still stands in many Indian households. The tech world is often no different. A lack of females in India’s technology and IT roles, in fact in most work fields, can be traced back to similar issues faced by women across the world – stereotyping, unconscious bias and starting a family. Furthermore, deeply ingrained cultural factors remain rooted in India making it particularly difficult for Indian women to thrive, and remain, in the technology industry.

The societal and family pressures in India’s male dominated society often force women to put their family before work. Women are less likely to continue with demanding jobs such as engineering, technology and management because of the guilt of spending too much time away from their family. The chances of coming home late from work, or covering back to back shifts, can lead to gossip and objections from neighbours and relatives–the question often being raised ‘will she ever find a husband?’

Entrepreneurial women, or women in high CEO/founder roles, are often not taken seriously because the industry prefers to deal with men in charge. Radhika Aggarwal, founder of e-commerce marketplace Shopclues, was “constantly bypassed by a bunch of investors who insisted on only talking to the male co-founder”, she told The Times of India.

India has also faced its fair share of ‘Uber’s Dave McCLure moments’ in its own tech industry. Arunabh Kumar, CEO of The Viral Fever (TVF), a popular online digital entertainment company, stepped down earlier this year after facing charges of sexual harassment of his women colleagues. In 2015, the Economic Times released a study of annual reports from 46 Nifty companies, including Tech Mahindra Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, and Wipro Ltd, that indicated that “almost 38 out of 50 Nifty companies have 415 sexual harassment cases against them.”

Bridging the gap

Despite the apparent absence of women in the tech world, many companies and organisations are focusing on efforts to close the gender gap.

AnitaB.org, a non-profit working with women, tech companies and engineering colleges “to create a business case for women to be given an inclusive role in the sector.” The organisation runs in India under Managing Director Geetha Kannan, and recently severed ties with Uber as a stance against the sexist work culture of the company.

With headquarters in Delhi, another company fighting for equal opportunities for women is SHEROES, an online network providing resources and opportunities to support women. It acts as a trusted #takecharge space for women to progress.

This week, SheLeadsTech, an initiative aspiring women entrepreneurs to overcome barriers in the tech startup ecosystem, launched their interactive platform for tech-related ventures. Events were held this week in Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, to connect women in startups, and offer access to the community as well as tools, mentorship and resources to succeed in building a business in technology. Shradha Sharma is included in their impressive list of mentors. Creating hubs and platforms such as SheLeadsTech can help women share experiences and together surpass pressures preventing many from climbing up the tech industry ladder.